Rae's Ramblings

We Have A Date!

2012-02-14T14:13:00.000-06:00

The case worker is coming on Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. to officially open our home! I am so excited I can't stand it! She is still trying to get one last signature, which is what has delayed everything. But she is determined to have it by Thursday morning! That's one of the many reasons I like her. She even thanked me for being so patient. I told her I definitely did not feel like I had been very patient and felt like I had bugged her to death! Ha!

And, I wanted to write something else while I am thinking about it. I was thinking the other day about how unbelievably blessed Joe and I are. Not one time in this process has one friend or family member or church family member expressed that they do not approve of us wanting to be foster parents. (They may have thought it, but they have never said anything to us. That's all that matters! Ha!) I totally realize that Joe and I being foster parents will not only just affect us. It will affect everyone we come in contact with. Hopefully in an awesome way, but I realize their could be some undesired outcomes, also. But, we have received nothing but blessings. All of our friends, church family, and family have welcomed our future foster children with open arms. How blessed are we??? We don't ever have to worry about if our future foster children will be accepted in our family, with our friends and their children, or at our church. Everyone has just been great and I wanted to say thank you! Thank you for your blessing and especially your prayers!

I know I have mentioned that I teach the preschool class on Wednesday nights at church. I have 7 girls and 1 boy. (The little guy is a new development and I often feel bad for him. At least he is smart enough to do exactly what those girls tell him! Ha!) During our story time last Wednesday I sat them down and explained that Mr. Joe and I are going to be foster parents. I explained it the best I could to 3, 4, and 5 year olds. They asked tons of questions and by the time we were done I am pretty sure they had the best grasp of the situation that they could. I asked them if they were going to be nice to the foster kids that I bring to church with me. One of the little girls responses was, "Of course, Mrs. Rae. I'm always nice to little babies." I explained that we may not have a little baby. That we may have a big kid like her. Her response, "Oh. Well....yeah. I'll be nice because they are your foster kids." Ha! She had to really think about it! I love the honesty of preschoolers!

They always say their prayers after story time. They usually each say their own prayer that they come up with all on their own. (Prayer time takes a while sometimes, and I often have to bite my tongue so I don't laugh, but it is my favorite!) One little girl's prayer on Wednesday night was "Father, Thank you for Mrs. Rae. Thank you for making her be a foster parent. And please give her the most wonderful kids ever!" Is that not the sweetest thing you have ever read!?! At 3 years-old, I'm pretty sure she gets it.

So thank you again to everyone for being so excited for us. And for praying for us. You have no idea how much we appreciate it!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our first baby's world is about the change. And bless her heart, she doesn't even have a clue!

Rae

No News

2012-02-10T14:13:00.000-06:00

I am trying very hard to not be impatient or get discouraged, but this waiting game is not fun! Our FBI background check came back. Now we are just waiting for the case worker to come and officially open our home. I know she is a busy busy lady, but I am ready! :)

I found this on Pinterest, and I hope that once we get foster children in our home I can remember all of these things!

A Child’s Ten Commandments to Parents

1. My hands are small; please don’t expect perfection whenever I make a bed, draw a picture, or throw a ball. My legs are short; please slow down so that I can keep up with you.

2. My eyes have not seen the world as yours have; please let me explore safely: don’t restrict me unnecessarily.

3. Housework will always be there. I’m only little such a short time—please take time to explain things to me about this wonderful world, and do so willingly.

4. My feelings are tender; please be sensitive to my needs; don’t nag me all day long. (You wouldn’t want to be nagged for your inquisitiveness.) Treat me as you would like to be treated.

5. I am a special gift from God; please treasure me as God intended you to do, holding me accountable for my actions, giving me guidelines to live by, and disciplining me in a loving manner.

6. I need your encouragement, but not your praise, to grow. Please go easy on the criticism; remember you can criticize the things I do without criticizing me.

7. Please give me the freedom to make decisions concerning myself. Permit me to fail, so that I can learn from my mistakes. Then someday I’ll be prepared to make the kind of decisions life requires of me.

8. Please don’t do things over for me. Somehow that makes me feel that my efforts didn’t quite measure up to your expectations. I know it’s hard, but please don’t try to compare me with my brother or my sister.

9. Please don’t be afraid to leave for a weekend together. Kids need vacations from parents, just as parents need vacations from kids. Besides, it’s a great way to show us kids that your marriage is very special.

10. Please take me to Sunday school and church regularly, setting a good example for me to follow. I enjoy learning more about God.

**A Child’s Ten Commandments to Parents, by Dr. Kevin Leman

Hopefully I'll have an update on Monday!

Rae

Happy 7th Birthday, Percie!

2012-02-07T22:23:00.000-06:00

Sunday, February 5, was Percie's 7th birthday!

Hopefully (sooner than later) Percie will no longer be our only baby, so we decided to make this birthday extra special!

We got her a birthday cookie from Just Dogs.

She loved it! (It was pretty hard. Well, very hard! Ha! I had to break it apart with a hammer so she could eat it!)

We went to Petco and Petsmart. She got a new birthday elephant!

She loves it! (Almost as much as her toy birthday cake we got her last year. It is her favorite!)

She also got a new tag for her collar because she had almost totally scratched her name off of the old one. (Her new one is really cute! I should have taken a picture of it.) And she got a new chuck it because she loves to play ball!

I wish I had more to report on the progress of our foster home, but I do not. It is just a waiting game. I promise as soon as I know the date and time the case worker is coming to officially open our home, I will update!

I did add some new baskets to the changing table. What do you think?

And notice what is now next to the changing table...I bought a trash can! Ha!

And I made this wreath for the door.

I'm hoping for news soon!

Rae

Impatient

2012-02-03T15:54:00.001-06:00

Impatience is a characteristic I'm pretty sure I was born with! Ha! But really, its not my favorite thing about myself and I fight it a lot. When we went to have our finger prints scanned on Friday, we were told it could be 2 days to 2 weeks before we get the results back. Today makes one week, so we have obviously passed the 2 day mark. I think I did pretty good until today. Today I have been obsessivly checking my email waiting to hear from the case worker. :)

I did email her and make sure one last time (poor lady) that our FBI background check is the absolute final thing she is waiting on to be able to come out and officially open our home as a foster home. Of course, she assured me that the FBI check is absolutely all she is waiting on and she would be in contact as soon as she gets the results.

I don't know if I can make it another week! Ha! Well, I mean I really don't want to have to wait another week. But, it seems like everything during this process has taken the max amount of time. Of course that is no fault of anyone. It just happens.

And in other news, I think the mustang is gonna have to go. :( We attempted installing car seats just to see, and well, its just not going to work. I contacted our favorite car salesman today and he is going to help us find something that will work well for us. I am determined to have a fun car! This one just might not be a convertable and it will have a little more room.

I think Joe and I are going to go drive a few things this weekend to help us decide what we want.

From mustang to mommy mobile.....oh my.

Rae

The Room

2012-01-29T13:55:00.001-06:00

I have to admit that creating this room has been the most fun part of becoming foster parents! I mean it involves a lot of my favorite things.....shopping, crafting, painting, and being creative! I tried very hard to shop sales and use things we already had. Okay, here we go......

( Picture Overload Alert )

Welcome to the future kid room! We are going for a very gender neutral room. I would hate to get a baby boy and welcome him to a pink and zebra room, ya know? So if we get a girl I can definitely make this more girly! We also went ahead and set up the bed as a baby bed, but it converts into a toddler bed and a twin size bed.

This is right when you walk in to your left. I'm hoping this will be a great place to hang coats and bags for school.

A bow holder full of bows just in case we ever have a little girl!

I had the best time painting this. I also love that it has hooks for headbands!

This is on your right when you walk in the door. That was my great-grandmother's suite case. I used to play with it when I was a kid. It was already blue, but I gave it a fresh coat of paint.

This dresser was my aunts when she was a little girl and mine when I was little. I just gave it a fresh coat of paint, mama had a new mirror put in it, and I bought some cute knobs at Hobby Lobby. I forgot to take a picture, but the inside of the drawers are the ice blue color.

I got the bed at Wal-Mart.com. for a great deal! Mama made the bedding! I LOVE it! I knew the colors I wanted to use and went to fabric.com and just started shopping. I love the way all 4 fabrics look together. I found the guitar picture at Wal-Mart. I got the lamp at Target and the frames at Tuesday morning. I already had these curtains in this room before we made it a kid room. They also came from Tuesday Morning.

My sweet sweet friend Marianne had a friend of hers paint this just for the room. I LOVE it! What a thoughtful gift!

I made the mobile. Craziest decision ever! Ha! I found one similar on Pinterest and it took me to a link to an Etsy shop and the mobile was $55. $55! I thought, "Its just some yarn and felt, why $55? I can make that for like $15." Which I did make it for $15, but it took about 20 hours to put together! Ha! Note to self, order the mobile next time. I hand sewed all of the elephants.

Whew. On to the next part of the room.

I love the movie The Help! I thought this saying was very appropriate for the kid room. I had this canvas and it didn't really go any where in the room. So, I painted over it with the blue paint. I painted the wooden letters brown and glued them onto the canvas and then hung it over the window. I love the way it turned out!

This is the other corner of the room. This rocking chair was my dad's grandfather's chair. Mama recovered it for me and covered the pillow in giraffe print minky. The side table was a cheap white parsons table that we had for our Turtle Feathers shows. I love it painted red! The lamp came from Target. It was black, but I like the way it looks painted ice blue. This frame also came from Tuesday Morning. I bought the frame that is on the wall at a craft fair in Jonesboro.

Here is the other side of the room. The changing table came in a bundle with the bed and mattress from Wal-Mart.com. If for some reason we need another bed in this room, we are going to put it where the rocking chair is and move the rocking chair on the rug in the middle of the room. Luckily this room is pretty big. I love the diaper bag. It is one of the first things I bought. It came from kalencom.com. I would really like 2 red baskets and another giraffe basket on the top shelf of the changing table, but I cannot find another one of these giraffe print baskets to save my life! It came from Hobby Lobby. I've looked in LR, NLR, Hot Springs, Jonesboro, and Shreveport, LA. If you see one will you please let me know!?! I also got the giraffe print hamper at Hobby Lobby. I'm not sure if I am going to use it for toys or dirty clothes.

My dad made me this little red chair when I was a kid. I just freshened it up a little with a coat of red paint. It fits perfect on this little piece of wall.

And, here is the closet. I have had a blast shopping for clothes!! There are no full price items in this closet. I love sales, consignment shops, and Goodwill! I would absolutely love to have a cute closet. But, we live in a very small apartment so the closet is really needed for storage. There is no place else to store the stroller, pack-n-play, or jumparoo. So, I will just do my best to keep it nice and neat and pretend it is a cute closet. Ha!

Here are some close-ups of the bedding. I just love it!

Love!

I hope you guys enjoyed your tour! Now all we need is a sweet little kiddo in this room. Hopefully it won't be long...

Rae

The Absolute Very Last Step....

2012-01-26T22:57:00.000-06:00

The absolute very last step (that I know of) for us to officially have our foster home opened by DHS happens tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. (ha. every time I think it is the last step something else seems to come up.) We are going to have our finger prints scanned to be sent off for our FBI background check. Hopefully we will have the results back in a week and will have our home officially open! Hopefully it won't take long for us to receive our first call!

Joe's mom and dad came last weekend and helped us finish up some stuff. We added another shelf and clothes rack in the closet and put tons of kid gear together. It was so much fun! I feel like we are as ready as we are going to be! Well, except I still need to purchase a trash can for the kid room. How could I forget that!?! Thanks to a great MIL who noticed that! Ha!

I am hoping to totally finish up the room this weekend (including purchasing a trash can) and then I will share some pics. I can't believe this is actually happening!

Rae

Just Wanted to Share

2012-01-11T23:24:00.000-06:00

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

Rae

Off To Training We Go

2012-01-06T14:51:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow! Our PRIDE training days are finally here! We will be in training all day tomorrow and most of Sunday, and then do it again next weekend.

Our appointment for our physical got moved to the 11th at 1:30. After training and our physicals, we just wait for our home study to be completed. I am so ready!

We had a great Christmas break. I was off work for a whole 10 days! We spent the weekend before Christmas at my sisters house and had a great time. We spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before Christmas with Joe's family. It was great.

And then we came home Christmas Eve night and we were home for 8 days!! I never get to stay home when I'm off work so this was wonderful.

Mama and I did lots of shopping to prepare for our future foster kiddos. After Christmas sales are wonderful! We had a great time.

And we painted some in the future kid room. I can't wait for it to be totally finished. Mama also worked on the bedding. I am so glad she is able to make exactly what I want.

I can't wait to share pics of the whole completed room. Until then, here is a little preview...

I can't wait to finish!

Rae

Anniversary and Weekly Update

2011-12-20T10:43:00.001-06:00

Today is our 8th wedding anniversary! It doesn't seem possible. That was such a fun day!

And here we are now...

Still having fun! Love you, Joe!

I would really like to have at least a weekly update about our journey to become foster parents, but there really isn't much going on this week. We did complete our CPR/First Aid training yesterday. Another thing to mark off the list. I have to keep mine up to date for work, but it expires this month. It was also time for Joe to be recertified, so our nurse at work was awesome and let Joe come to our training so he didn't have to find it some where else!

We are hopefully going to training January 7, 8, 14, &15. I haven't heard back with a for sure yet, but I am praying that works out. UPDATE: We are for sure scheduled for that training! Another prayer answered! Joe is headed back to the health department today for his second TB skin test. We have our physicals on January 10th. Then we wait for our home study........and we are done!!

It feels good to get more and more things marked off our list! Besides training not being offered when we wanted it to be (which majorly held us back) this process has really been realtively smooth. And for that I am very thankful!

Hopefully I'll be back next week to report even more progress!

Rae

The Beginning of Our Journey

2011-12-13T13:08:00.000-06:00

So, I'm going to try to do a much better job of keeping up with the blog. I do not want to forget one moment of this journey!

I decided I better get busy documenting before I start forgetting. We used the picture in the post below in our Christmas Cards to announce to our family and friends that we were going to begin this journey!

We made the decision on November 1, 2011, that we want to be foster parents. It is something we had been considering for quite a while, but finally decided we would definitely persue it that day. Because of my job, I knew there was a process to becoming a foster parent, but I had NO IDEA how extensive this process would be! Oh my! Someday I might add THE list to the blog so you guys can get an idea of what I mean.

Another thing that Joe and I didn't realize is that we picked the wrong time of year to decide we want to be foster parents! There is no training at the end of November or at all in December due to the holidays. 30 hours of training are required before becoming a foster/adoptive parent. We were hoping to have children in our home by Christmas. We were definitely sad when we realized that was not going to happen.

On December 1, 2011, we went to our first informational meeting that counts as part of our training. December 1 was also the day Joe and I went out on our first date 10 years ago! Ten. Years. Ago. Doesn't seem possible.

The meeting lasted about 2 hours. I have a picture I would like to add of Joe and I at Froyo after the meeting, but it keeps showing up upside down? Oh well. I'll try to fix it and add it later. The meeting went great and we were able to schedule our first home visit for Thursday, December 8, 2011!!

The home visit also went great! During this visit they check a lot of safety features like fire extinguishers, child safety locks, where you keep your chemicals and knifes, and other general safety features. They also measure the space where you want to have foster/adoptive kids, which in our case is our extra bed room, and decide how many children you are licensed for. They licensed our extra room for 2 children! Exactly what we were hoping for!

Because we now live in our new apartment in the new residence halls, thankfully we were pretty up to date on most of the codes. The only concern was that the windows were not made to open for ventolation purposes and emergency exits. I just got the call that that is okay! Hooray! They approved it because they are break away windows that can be broken out incase of an emergency. And we have a very large ventolation system that cleans and circulates our air.

Our next step (besides the mounds of paper work) will be attending the training. Prayers are appreciated that we can register for and attend the training the first 2 weekends in January! (Another hurdle!)

We are planning to adopt one day, but for now we are just taking it one step at a time. I hope you guys enjoy following our journey!

Rae

Exciting News!

2011-12-08T11:56:00.000-06:00

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-26T22:33:00.001-05:00

So, I know it has taken me a while, but better late than never, right??

I had a great Labor Day weekend in Branson, MO with my mom and Percie.

On our way! Percie loves to go on trips and stay in hotels just as much as her mama and grandmama!

We left for Branson Saturday morning. We stopped in Conway at Hobby Lobby on our way and found some awesome deals! I also ran in Big Lots and found Percie a cute Halloween toy.

She loves it! Here she is at the hotel.

We got there just in time Saturday to spend a few hours at the pool. It felt wonderful! Then we got ready and went to eat at Cantina Laredo at the Branson Landing.

Here's mama at the restaurant. We love Cantina Laredo!

After we ate an awesome meal we shopped until the Landing was closing. I found some awesome deals! I love shopping in Branson!

The only thing that wasn't necessarily enjoyable about Branson was the traffic! Oh my! It took us over an hour to go 4 miles. I am not exaggerating. The traffic was insane! But, at least we didn't have any where we had to be at any specific time.

Sunday we got up and went to the continental breakfast at our hotel. It was not so great, so we decide we would go back to the room, get Percie, and run to McDonald's. Well, like I said, the traffic was insane so I noticed the Waffle and Pancake House almost right across the street from our hotel. We had Percie with us, so we couldn't go in and eat, but I went in and placed an order to go and we hung out in the car with Percie until it was ready. When I went in to get our order I noticed a sign that said cash only. All I had was my debit card. Ugh! It was almost 11 by this time and I was hungry! The waitress told me that there was a Walgreens close by that had a ATM. So, I walked to Walgreens and back in about 15 minutes. It would have taken 2 hours to drive. Paid for our breakfast. And we headed back to the hotel. We ate our breakfast at about 11:30 a.m. Ha! Even though the day started out rough, we ended up having a great afternoon!

We got ready and headed to the Tanger Outlet Mall. I LOVE outlet malls! We got some awesome deals! Finding a parking place was interesting, but after we found a spot we walked the whole outlet mall. Shopping is good exercise! Ha!

After leaving the outlet mall we headed to Kringles Christmas Store. It is a must while in Branson! We walked around that shopping center for a little while and then ate supper at the Hard Luck Diner. The food was great and the entertainment was fun! All of the waiters and waitresses sing and dance while they wait tables.

After supper, we headed back to the hotel to rest for a minute and spend some time with Perice. The weather was absolutely awesome! It was one of the first cool days of fall! So, we decided to take Percie to the Landing to walk around. Mama got a piece of cake from a cake place and I got some ice cream. We sat outside, walked Percie for a while, and had a great time!

Percie looked so cute in her pink striped dress and got tons of attention!

(Seems like I just took tons of pics of Percie Labor Day Weekend and no one else.)

Monday morning we decided to pack up our stuff and Percie and leave the hotel about 10. We were hoping we could make it the 1 mile to McDonald's before they stopped serving breakfast at 10:30. No lie! We barely made it! Ha! Then we took Percie with us to the Red Roof Outlet Mall. We just took turns going into stores. Of course we found some awesome deals!

We had a really god time and already have plans for our next trip!

Rae

September 11, 2001

2011-09-11T21:41:00.000-05:00

The last 2 weekends have been great! I can't wait to share. But for now, I want to share my 9/11 experience.

On 9-11-01 I was 21 years-old and a senior at Arkansas State University. I lived with 2 of my Delta Zeta Sorority sisters, Maranda and Julie, in a house in Jonesboro. I had to be at work at 7:00 a.m. that morning to ride the van at the Pediatric Day Clinic. I remember getting back from the van route and one of the teachers was crying saying she couldn't believe what happened. If I remember correctly she was a little dramatic, so I just blew the situation off. I do remember everyone looking a little freaked out.

Just a few minutes later I left work, which was very close to campus, and went to my 9:30 a.m. class. Abnormal Psychology. It was an awesome group. I loved that class! I remember my professor coming in and turning on the TV in class and letting us watch the news coverage. It wasn't until then that I finally figured out what that teacher at work was talking about. (I can be a little slow sometimes, okay. :) )

I definitely thought I was a mature adult and totally understand what that day meant, but I didn't.

My professor let us out of class. I went to my house and I remember talking to Maranda. I remember how upset she was. We met at the house and stared at the TV for what seems like forever. My parents were school teachers, so I never had the ability to talk to them in the middle of the day. Well, unless it was an emergency. While this was an emergency, there really wasn't much my mom or dad could do, so I didn't talk to them until after they got out of school.

I remember Maranda talking to her mom (who was a manager at a gas station), and her telling Maranda and I to go get gasoline NOW because the price was about to jump. I remember sitting that the gas station on Caraway in my white grand am forever! (It was the gas station right by the exit ramp off the bypass, in front of the new movie theater-well, the movie theater was new then, anyway, if you were there you know what I am talking about.)

I remember sitting in line watching the gas prices rise. I am pretty sure that is when things started to sink in. It was pretty scary to watch the desperation in every ones faces.

Jonesboro was crazy! So I just went home for the rest of the day.

My other roommate Julie worked at the court house. She drove by the Mosque on her way home from work everyday. This day was no different, except someone shot out one of her back windows! I'm telling you, people went crazy! She does have very dark straight hair, so we are guessing someone thought she was middle eastern and decided to shoot out her back window?? Who knows, but luckily she was not hurt. She pulled into the parking lot across the street and called 911. The policeman said that who ever shot out her window used a pellet gun. That is better than a gun that could have really hurt or killed her, but she was still very shaken up. And rightly so!

I remember getting the phone call that there was going to be a candle light prayer vigil on campus that night and that we were all meeting in the sorority suite and going together. I remember that so many of my sisters came that night. I also remember how safe it felt to be in that suite with all of my sisters. I may have been 5 hours from home and away from my family, but those girls were my family.

I remember finding out that one of my sorority sisters (Candace) family members was on the flight that was supposed to hit the White House, but they fought back. I remember that he called his wife and told her what was happening. I remember hearing that there was a flight attendant from Arkansas on one of the flights. I remember how close to home that made the attacks feel.

I never imagined that anyone in Arkansas would be directly affected by attacks in New York.

I also remember that I had tickets to the Nickelback concert in Little Rock that next weekend and it got cancelled. I was bummed! (Oh the things that were important to me when I was 21! ha!)

I remember that for the first time in my life being patriotic meant something. I remember feeling that bond with everyone just because we were Americans. I remember seeing the American flag every where and loving it!

I also remember some crazy things like when watching the coverage on TV, there were pieces of paper every where! Paper was lining the streets and flying through the air. I remember how crazy that was to me. Does anyone else remember insignificant things like that?

Where were you that day?

(Side Note: I went out on my first date with my husband 3 months later. Some good things did happen in '01!!)

Rae

August 2011

2011-09-01T22:54:00.000-05:00

My goal was to be caught up on blogging before September, and I almost made it!

August was another crazy busy month around here!

The first week in August we kept Joe's parents very old very blind Boston, Max. I love Max! He makes me laugh. He actually gets around very well and learned our place pretty quick. He loves to lay on Percie's dog bed. In the picture above he got a little confused and climbed into Percie's dog toy basket instead of her dog bed! Ha! He was just happy not to be on the cold floor!

The first Saturday in August is always Joe's family reunion at the Spring River. This is the only picture I took all day?? I don't know what has gotten into me lately! At least it is a cute picture of my niece, Rylee, pretending to drive my car!

The next weekend, my niece, Mattilyn, had a soccer tournament in Little Rock. I LOVE to watch her play soccer! Side note: I cannot believe that she is in high school now! And I really cannot believe she is taller than me! I was holding out hope that I would not be the shortest female in my family, but it looks like I get to keep my status. Oh well. And another side note: I almost think we favor in this picture and I have never thought that before! Is it just me??

Anyway, it was great to see her and her team won Grand Champion! (Against a 16 year-old team.....they are 14)

I also got my new tags for my car! Yay! Gotta support my Red Wolves! (Even though when I went to ASU we were the Indians.)

In August we also had the Open House and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the new Residence Hall (aka where I live). It was a crazy busy fun day! There were hundreds of people who came to tour the new building (and our apartment). I really had a lot of fun! And I could breath after it was over because everything was moved in, unpacked, put away, and the apartment was clean! Ha!

The Saturday all of the students moved into the new dorm, I went to Jonesboro to take my niece shopping for her birthday! I can't believe she is six! We had a great time, of course. We like a lot of the same things and she is a great shopper! I would definitely trust her to pick out my clothes!

And she got a feather! She was so excited!!

Last Friday, my sorority sister and very good friend, Liz, came to Beebe to show us all the new awesome jewelry she is selling! I enjoyed hosting a Guy and Eva Jewelry party! Liz is the only rep in Arkansas, and you should really check out their stuff! It is SO cute! (and inexpensive!) I can't wait to get my new jewelry in!

Last weekend was actually Joe's weekend off, so we left Saturday morning to spend a day/night in Trumann with his parents. We had a great time! and Joe got to relax and sleep! This is Percie and Missy sleeping after a full day of playing! They love each other!

And here is Max (you know, the very old very blind Boston) sleeping in his chair! He has always loved that chair! Ha!

Now that I'm all caught up, I hope to be back every Monday night with weekly updates! (It's my goal anyway.)

Rae

The New Place in iPhone Pics

2011-08-30T22:32:00.002-05:00

I can't wait to share these pics with you guys! We have known for over a year that we were going to get to move into this new place. So, I have been planning and shopping all that time! My husband's boss was totally awesome and let me have a say so in the paint colors, counter tops, cabinets, and flooring. Of course I was picking within limits, but still I think that was THE best to get to help create our new home! It definitely feels much more like home! Joe and I still had all of our college furniture that we just combined when we got married. (Seriously all of the new furniture and wall art could have never helped our last apartment look awesome, so we chose to spend our money in other areas.) But, since we had the opportunity to have this awesome new place, I wanted to help it look as great as it possibly could. And it really was great that we had so long to plan, shop, and save! I have to brag that I have not paid full price for one thing in our new place! I am seriously so proud! I shopped sales and watched certain pieces and waited to purchased specific things. And I loved every minute of it! Okay, I'll hush and let you see the pics. Oh, and I hate it that all of these are iPhone pics, but I cannot find the cord to my camera! Ugh. Moving = losing things.....ugh.

Welcome to the new place!

The view of the kitchen from the living room. I LOVE that it is all open.

Living Room

Living Room. Percie had to join in the pic! ha

Living Room. This is our door to outside. Our door that goes out into the dorm is in the kitchen. Percie hopped into the pic again! Ha!

Living room again.

Living Room Again.

(This recliner was the only thing Joe requested for the apartment! Ha!)

The view of the living room from the kitchen.

Kitchen.

My awesome new fridge! I didn't pick it out, but I LOVE it!

Kitchen. Can I tell you how excited I am to have a dish washer and a garbage disposal!?!

The Hallway from the Kitchen/Lining Room to our Master. The bathroom is on the right, the 1st bedroom is on the left, and our master is straight ahead.

Joe's side of the 1st bedroom. Joe has his computer desk, TV, and stuff in here. I also have all of my crafty stuff and my computer in here. It is wonderful not to have all of my ribbon and tulle all over our living room! This way if people come over, I can just close this bedroom door!

My side.....without all of my crafty stuff out.

The bathroom.

Okay, I know that blue is probably not what most people would choose for their bathroom, but I love it! It is actually more turquoise than it looks in this pic.

Other side of the bathroom. I just have to add that Joe and I could not both stand in our old bathroom at the same time it was so tiny. I would like to do an experiment some time and see just how many people will fit in this bathroom! Ha! My guess is 20. No lie. I LOVE it!

Our Master.

I am very pleased with our new bedroom furniture!

Our Master Again.

We have a very large walk-in closet. I did not photograph it because it is not photograph ready! Ha! When I get it all organized, I will share. It is currently still a work in progress.

Joe, Percie, and I the day of the ribbon cutting/open house.

I hope you guys enjoyed your (very long) tour!

Rae

July 2011 Continued

2011-08-29T19:58:00.001-05:00

So much happened in July, I couldn't fit it all in one post!

The Week that Christy, Corbin, and Carson came to visit my car died. It hadn't been running very good for a while, and I had already started looking. Well,

this is the #1 reason I should never drive Joe's truck. Yes, that is a big scratch on the drivers side of Joe's truck. Ugh! I can't believe I did that!

And, this is the #2 reason I should not drive Joe's truck. At least it was just a warning this time! In my defense, the speedometer in Joe's truck does not work. It says I am going 140 mph all the time. Thankfully the nice state trooper felt sorry for me!

And this is the new ride! I love it! (even though I have to make the first payment this week, I don't regret our purchase one bit!)

A few days after we got the new ride my other 2 favorite boys came to visit for a week! Logan and Braden loved riding with the top down!

For some reason I didn't take very many pictures, but we went to Play Time Pizza, Wild River Country, to swim at Mrs. Pam's, and to the movie's to see Smurf's and Captain America.

We also spent 2 days at Greers Ferry Lake out on the boat. It rained some, but we still had a great time!

Feeding the fish one time while we were waiting for the rain to clear.

And in between, the lake, Wild River Country, Play Time Pizza, swimming, and the movies, Joe and I moved into our new place! LOL! Oh, and did I mention I worked 4 days that week.
This is Percie sleeping on the couch the first night we moved in! LOL!

Over the last 6 years, Joe and I (with mama's help) have rescued many dogs and cats and found them homes. Some how they just always find us.....mostly by wondering up to the dorm. The old dorm was on the edge of campus really close to a neighborhood. I had just told Joe our first night we stayed in our new place that we probably would not have as many animals wonder up now that we are not as close to a neighborhood.

Then Joe sent me this message our second morning at our new place. And yes, that is our front door mat. And yes this sweet puppy was asleep on our front door mat when he went outside first thing that morning. Poor puppy was soaking wet, dirty, covered in fleas, hungry and thirsty! I told Percie over and over again that morning that she didn't even know how good she had it! I couldn't stand it. This poor puppy was so covered in fleas that they were climbing on her eyes and nose even! Ugh! So I gave her a bath before I went to work and maybe got 1/3 of them off her. She wondered up on a Thursday, which is the only day our vets office is closed. Figures. I called mama, and she and the boys were on flea removal duty! Ha! They bathed her again, used some flea spray on her, and bathed her again. Finally no more fleas! A friend from work who has 2 kids took her home to be their new pet! She is the sweetest thing! They named her Roxy. When Sarah took her to the vet last week he said he thinks she is a collie and she will be 90-100 pounds! Good thing they have a big backyard.

That was our awesome, busy July. I plan to add pics of our new place, soon!

Rae

July 2011

2011-08-29T19:17:00.000-05:00

I only thought June was a busy month! LOL!

We had a great 4th!

Percie in her 4th dress!

At the beginning of July, Joe went on a trip to Houston, Texas with work. Mama and I packed our whole apartment and got everything ready for the "Biggest garage Sale Ever" while he was gone. We lived in the same very small apartment for 6 years. I still can't believe we accumulated so much stuff!!

After Joe got back we started taking all of our things to my friend Michelle's house in Searcy for the garage sale.

We stopped at Froyo in Searcy one night after making many trips with stuff to cool off! Did I mention it was the hottest summer on record???

In the middle of all of the garage sale planning and moving planning Percie got very sick. So, we spent more time at Beebe Veterinary Hospital! Poor Percie!

In our new place, we have a microwave stove hood, so we had no need for our old microwave. For some reason I could not remember to take our old one to Michelle's house for the garage sale! I guess when something has been in the same place for 6 years you just get used to it being there. Anyway, Joe made me this sign so I would not forget the microwave the day of the big garage sale! Ha! He makes me laugh!

Percie and I still went on lots of walks even though it was HOT!

And, 2 of my favorite boys and their mom came to visit! This is Carson in the "good poo." Carson's Grandmom has a very nice in ground pool. Carson is not a fan of grandmom's pool. He really only enjoys playing on the top step. But he loved my kiddie pool! Ha! You never know with kids, right!?! When he got out of the kiddie pool, he patted the side and said, "this a good poo, mom." I love him!

I'm pretty sure his brother, Corbin, had a good time, too! He is so funny! I miss these boys so much!

One morning the boys were playing and I looked over and saw this! LOL! The things that entertain kids! Both of them were very happy in the dog crate??

I have to share another funny Carson story. It is just too cute and I don't want to forget it. Carson has a monkey that he likes a lot, and he talks about monkeys a lot. I love to hear him say monkey because instead of monkey, he calls them gunkeys!! LOL! I love it! I asked him if he was my monkey, and with a huge smile he said "Your gunkey??? I your gunkey!"

We had a great visit with Christy, Corbin, and Carson. I can't wait to go to Oregon to visit them!

I should also add that before Christy and the boys came to visit, we were supposed to be moved into our new place. Needless to say, it didn't happen. We lived for 3 weeks with our whole place packed, no living room furniture, no dresser, etc. It was an interesting time. (Especially because I have a very hard time with everything not being in its place! I tried very hard not to stress too much!)

This post is getting pretty lengthy, so I will continue July later.

Rae

Turtle Feathers Summer 11

2011-08-29T13:49:00.000-05:00

Mama and I continued creating new stuff throughout the summer. Enjoy the pics!

It was a fun summer for Turtle Feathers!

Rae

Tornado May 2011

2011-08-29T13:45:00.000-05:00

I don't know how I could forget to include this event in my catch up blogs. We had a horrible tornado in May blow through the ASU Beebe Campus. One of my mom's cats had died, so I went to her house so she would not be alone. When I walked out the door to leave for my mom's the tornado sirens were going off. Joe called the police department and they said that the city had sounded them way too early and that I should be fine driving. It takes between 5-10 minutes to get to my mom's, depending on traffic. That was the longest 10 minutes! It was just weird looking outside. I hadn't been at my mom's long when the sirens started going off again.

Her master closet is a safe room, so we headed there with all of the animals. Joe had to stay at the dorm because there were still students there. Their finals were supposed to begin the next day. School was supposed to be out in one week. Notice I said supposed to.

My mom and I could hear the tornado go over her house. A few minutes after the all clear I got a call from Joe. He and all of the students were fine, but the campus was a wreck. Thankfully, mama's house had no damage at all! She just lost power for 5 hours or so. Here are some pictures of the campus.

Some of the John Deere Mechanic students helping to clean up the damage.

The reason the campus was without electricity for about a week!

This is the campus police chief, JJ, in front of one of the fallen trees. (And JJ is not a small man!)

It was an absolutely crazy time! I missed a few days of work because I could not get out off Beebe because of all of the down trees and power lines. It was a miracle that no one was hurt! The campus was without electricity for a week. So, needless to say they had to cancel finals. They even had to push back graduation for a week. I felt horrible for all of the students.

When walking around campus now, it is still weird to see all of the trees that are missing!

Rae

June 2011

2011-08-29T13:15:00.001-05:00

I am determined to be caught up on the blog by September 1st so I can begin again with my weekly updates!

June was another great but busy month!

Percie had a great time in her swimming pool!

And I had fun in mine! LOL! I grew up with a swimming pool in my backyard and it has spoiled me for life! Relaxing in the water is my most favorite activity. So, I bought this $20 kiddie pool that is the perfect size for me to lay on my float. It lasted all summer! Ha!

This is Bella! I just love this kid! Isn't she cute!?!

In June, Natalie, Bella, and I met Annslie, Carie, and Kayt in Conway to meet Miss Kennedy for the first time!

Me meeting Kennedy for the first time! Isn't she precious!?!

L to R: Rae, Carie, Kennedy, Natalie, Bella, Annslie, and Kayt.

We had a great time eating at Mike's Place and just getting to see each other!

In June, Mama and I also traveled to Warren to spend the weekend with Annslie and Mama Ann and have a booth at the Pink Tomato Festival. It was HOT! And I just had to include this pic of Anns! Ha!

Here is a pic of our booth. Did I mention it was HOT??

Here is a pic of Percie taking a Sunday afternoon nap! I love this dog!!

In June, I also had fun making this daisy wreath for Mama's front door!

Percie and I enjoyed lots of walks in June! Usually we walked much later in the evening because it was SO stinkin' HOT!

In June, we also celebrated our nephew's 4th birthday! I can't believe Jordan is already 4. Where has the time gone???

Like I said, we had a great but busy June!

Rae

I Am Amazed!!

2011-08-28T22:30:00.000-05:00

For real! I am amazed at the talents some people have. Sarah is a RA (resident assistant) in the Residence Hall (dorm) where my husband is the Residence Hall Director (dorm dad). (So, he is her boss.) She is so much fun, and an unbelievably talented artist. She was hanging out in our (old) apartment one night last spring and we were talking about how I was going to decorate our new place. I mentioned wanting a canvas of Percie. She offered to paint Joe and I one!

She asked me to give her a picture of Percie that I liked. So, I gave her this picture that I took outside our old apartment:

And this is what she brought me tonight:

This picture does not do it justice! I wish all of you could see it in person. I love it and will keep it forever. I asked her to do Percie's shirt red instead of pink because the red matches our apartment much better. It is already hanging on my living room wall. Oh, and by the way, she just woke up this morning and decided she was going to paint this today. She did this whole painting today!

I am amazed!

Thanks, Sarah!

Rae

May 2011

2011-08-28T22:18:00.000-05:00

Thank goodness for facebook and iPhones. Without them I don't think I would have our summer documented at all! Ha!

Percie enjoying the nice weather on our evening walk.

This is a precious male kitten that we rescued and found a home for. He was hilarious!

Percie and I went shopping at Lowe's to get her grandmama's Mother's Day present! Percie loves shopping!

Joe and I went on a trip to Dallas with his work. We had a great trip even though the tornados followed us! The hotel was awesome, and I can't believe this is one of the only pictures I took. We were laughing because we sat in the back seat of the mini van and the seats were tiny! LOL!

We also took our boat out on the lake for the first time this summer! One of my favorite places on Earth!

Our nephew, Jordan, had a great time driving the boat with Uncle Joe on Memorial Day Weekend.

I also shopped like crazy for our new place. I found this awesome canvas at Tuesday Morning for an awesome price. It is on the wall in our living room now.

May was a great month! Come back soon for June!

Rae

Turtle Feathers Spring 2011

2011-08-25T10:58:00.000-05:00

Mama and I were both very busy with making more and more Turtle Feathers creations! Here are some pictures!

This is SO much fun!! I am ready to make some Fall creations!

Rae

April 2011

2011-08-25T10:36:00.000-05:00

Still catching up....

So I remember April being such a busy month, but for some reason I did not take very many pictures.

My BFF Christy came to spend a girls weekend in Beebe before she moved to Oregan. We had a great time!

We even treated ourselves to pedicures. I love a pedicure!

Mama and I shared a craft booth with my SIL Malinda for the Cabot Strawberry Fest. They brought their Boston and My MIL and FIL brought their Bostons. We had 6 of them! They had SO much fun!

This is Percie, Molly, and Missy.

This is Missy, Molly, and Max.

It is not very easy to get a picture of 6 Bostons! Ha!

L to R: Oreo, Angel, Missy, Molly, Percie, and Max.

Uncle Joe with Rylee and Jordan.

We also spent the weekend in Trumann with Joe's family. This is me, Joe, and Magan at Ihop!

We also enjoyed dinner at Outback with Derek, Magan, Tony, and Tara.

And Baby Darby, but of course we did not know that she was baby Darby yet!

Rae

March 2011 Continued...

2011-08-23T18:23:00.000-05:00

At the end of March, we also got to tour our new place again. This time it had paint on the walls!! YAY!

My red kitchen. (Promise it looks brighter in this pic than it really is!)

Kitchen

Living room. The kitchen and living room are open with a bar separating the 2 rooms.

Joe and I standing in our new kitchen.

My blue bathroom! I totally understand that this really blue bathroom is not for everyone, but I LOVE it!

1st bedroom!

Master Bedroom!

I can't wait to share the pics of our newly decorated apartment!!

Rae

March 2011

2011-08-22T18:11:00.000-05:00

I'm still working on those catch up posts.

During the month of March, I went to 2 special little one's birthday parties!

Bella turned one!

Here she is with her mom and dad!

She loved opening presents!

She loved her presents!

And she LOVED her cake!

In March, Corbin turned 5!

He got to write his name and how old he turned on the wall!

About to open all of his presents!

The whole family at the party!

Thanks to Corbin and Bella for inviting me to your parties!

Rae

Family Pictures

2011-07-28T16:18:00.000-05:00

We have tons and tons going on right now! Including buying a new car, moving to our new place, and lots of special visitors! I want to update on everything very soon, but I wanted to share a few pictures my sister took of my family this past Saturday. I thought they turned out great!

I love the way the pictures turned out! I'll be back soo with an update.....hopefully sooner than later!

Rae

4th Of July

2011-07-08T20:34:00.000-05:00

I decided I better go ahead and post about the 4th before it gets too far away. Things are very crazy around the Hooker house right now. We are moving in a few short days, so we are having the garage sale of a life time tomorrow morning. Since we live on a college campus, we can't exactly have a garage sale here, and my mom lives outside the city limits. We have tried a garage sale in her neighborhood before, but not had the best of luck. So, one of my good friends that lives in Searcy (20 minutes away) is letting us have the garage sale at her house. Thanks Michelle! He neighborhood is awesome for garage sales! Only thing that means is getting all of our stuff there.......8 trips down, at least 2 more to go before in the morning. Whew!

Back to the 4th.....

We had a very relaxing 4th. We usually go out of town some where fun, but we are trying to save money for the move, and we knew the next few weeks were going to be crazy!

We started out by eating at Old Chicago Pizza on Friday night and doing a little shopping, of course!

And, we ate this! I am so sad that there will be no more Yarnell's!

Percie in her 4th of July dress!

My mom has Fiesta Ware (I love it!) so I got all of her red, white, and blue out for us to use!

So thankful that Joe's mom and dad came to enjoy the 4th dinner with us!

Joe grilled and it was great!

And we did a little furniture shopping!

I am so excited about the new place!

We had a great 4th! I hope you did, too!

Rae

I Almost Forgot!

2011-07-05T22:34:00.000-05:00

Something else VERY important happened in February! I got to tour my very soon to be new home! Like we get to move in in 10 days! Can you tell I'm excited!?!

My husband is the hall director (or "dorm dad") of a residence hall (or "dorm" as they called them when I was in college), and the college he works for is building new residence halls. SOOOO, that means we get a new apartment!

These are a few pictures from our first time to tour the hall.

The outside

Our outside door to our apartment. (There is already a real door on there!)

Our living room. (That is the other side of that door that is now a real door. ha.)

This is out living room/kitchen. It is one big open room separated by a bar.

Our bedroom window!

Joe at one end of the hallway and me at the other!

And what am I most excited about??? My huge closet!! (That is Joe standing in the closet.)

10 more days! I can't wait!

Rae

My Newest Gotta Have

2011-07-05T11:53:00.000-05:00

I am a makeup lover! I always have been. I wear Clinique makeup. I love the way it looks and I have allergies and very sensitive skin. So, my dermotologist recommended that I stick with Clinique. I love their facial cleansing products, also. I have a Clinique 5 step/ 5 product process that I use. I love the way it makes my skin feel!

For some reason, I have been having major mascara issues this spring/summer. My eyes water so easily. When I sneeze, when I yawn, when I laugh, etc.....not to mention when I am just having a bad allergy day. And it rained quite a bit this spring and I always get soaked walking into work. My makeup would already be a mess before I really even began my day. And I really hate it, (and it is really gross!) but I sweat very easily, which also destroys my eye makeup. This summer has been unbelievably hot and has not helped my mascara issue.

I had pretty much just quit wearing makeup. Truthfully, I only put it on if I knew someone was going to take my picture! Ha! But I look horrible without it! So, I had decided that water proof mascara was my answer. Friday, I went to the Clinique counter and asked for water proof mascara. The Clinique lady told me that they don't have a water proof. :( (She explained it is because the products that make mascara water proof are not hypoallerginic.) But, she told me that they do have a great 24 hour mascara. So I decided to give it a try.

This is what the Clinique website says:

Lash Power Mascara Long Wearing Formula

Mascara with staying power. Vows to look pretty for 24 hours without a smudge or smear. Lasts through rain, sweat, humidity, tears. Yet the formula removes easily with warm water. Unique brush reaches and beautifully lengthens even the tiniest lashes. Ophthalmologist Tested.

I am in love! It isn't water proof, but it survived my sweating, the rain, and my eye watering. I just wanted to let all (2) of you know that for $14.50 this is a must have. It isn't hard at all to get off at night, but it stays put all day! Hooray! I solved my very important mascara issue!

(No one asked me to write this post, I just wanted to share my awesome find!)

Rae

Catch Up Post #1-February 2011

2011-07-04T22:55:00.000-05:00

February 2011 was a fun month filled with lots of snow!

Here is Quapaw Hall during the big snow!

Percie had a great time in the snow!

The campus was SO pretty!

Look how deep it was!

Horizon Hall's First Big Snow

(Our very soon to be new place as it was being built.)

Percie LOVES chasing snow balls! It cracks me up. When the snow ball lands in the snow she bites at it trying to pick it up with her mouth.

February 5, 2011 was also Percie's 6th Birthday!

And guess what??? It snowed on Percie's birthday!

In her Birthday Dress!

We had a pink birthday for Percie!

We had Pink cupcakes, but poor Percie couldn't have one. We also spent a lot of time at the vets office in February. He was pretty sure Percie had a food allergy, so we could only give her special food and no treats.

So, when I found this birthday cake dog toy that sings Happy Birthday with 6 candles on it, I had to get it! And she still loves it! She plays with it every day!

(It turns out that Percie had an abscess tooth, inflamed tonsils, allergies, and a very sensitive stomach. She is still on special food, but her diet doesn't have to be as strict.)

February was a great month! March is coming soon!

Rae

Percie Says...

2011-07-04T10:38:00.000-05:00

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!

*Catch up posts coming soon!

Notice Anything Different???

2011-06-26T22:05:00.000-05:00

Do you notice anything different about my blog??? I'm so excited!!

One of my friends from high school did an awesome job with my blog makeover! I seriously love it! And have so much respect for someone who can make my blog look like this and have everything I want on it! (because I sure can't!)

Check out Leslie's blog! It always looks awesome! And her girls are precious!

Thanks again, Leslie!

Help My Blog!!!

2011-06-24T23:46:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I am just dying to blog! I get to pick up my new external hard drive with all of my old documents and PICTURES from my dead computer Thursday! Yay! I'm so excited!

But, I also decided that my blog needs a MAJOR lift. I tried to do it my self, and failed horribly! I am totally clueless when it comes to this sort of thing. I can't even figure out how to list the 40 (yes you read that correct) blogs that I read daily on my blog roll. Like I said, Clueless! So I would like advice on the best choice. Have any of you guys ever paid someone to create a blog background with pics and a blog roll and all of that awesome stuff on it?? I would like to also add a link to our facebook Turtle Feathers page. I need to know who I should use! Help!

So, please help me out with some advice.....for the sake of the blog.

Rae

Back to Blogging

2011-06-19T21:33:00.000-05:00

I have missed blogging! So I have decided to start making time to blog again. Monthly recaps coming soon!

My computer died......like really died. And all of my pictures (not backed up pictures) were on my computer. It is in the shop right now and they are able to retrieve everything! YAY! But, I had SO MUCH stuff that I had to order an external hard drive for them to put all of my pictures and documents on. It should be in tomorrow!

So, I will be back to blogging VERY soon!

Rae

Glitter Girls!

2011-02-03T00:30:00.000-06:00

My Glitter Girls!

I love my glitter girls! And I really don't know what I would do if I didn't get to spend time with them every week!

Rae

Turtle Feathers Sale

2011-01-23T21:30:00.000-06:00

Turtle Feathers is having a sale on Facebook! I uploaded all of the pictures and new discounted prices to an album on our Turtle Feathers page. If you are interested in shopping, go here!

Happy shopping!!

Rae

Turtle Feathers for Valentine's Day

2011-01-20T23:55:00.000-06:00

Mama and I had the best time creating fun outfits for Valentine's Day!

Here are some examples:

So much fun!!

Rae

Fun Saturday!

2011-01-20T23:42:00.000-06:00

On Saturday, January 15, Joe, Percie, and I had planned on having our family pictures done by one of my college roommates, Stacy Howell, from Cloud Dust Photography.......

BUT I woke up SICK on Friday morning. I went to the doctor and just have the normal sinus and ear infection......but my face was SO swollen and my eyes were red and yucky looking!! Ugh!! I was so disappointed!! Besides Stacy is an absolutely wonderful photographer and I was really looking forward to getting a great new picture of Percie, I was also looking forward to spending the afternoon in Hot Springs with Joe and Percie.

So, I rested Saturday morning, and then Joe and I took Percie to Searcy for a little fun.

First we took her to the park and she got to play ball! Her favorite!!

Then Percie and I walked around Petsense while Joe got his hair cut!

After Joe finished with his hair cut, he joined us at Petsense.

We found Percie's Birthday present!! She turns 6 on February 5th, and we recently (along with the vets help) discovered Percie has food allergies. Yes, I know......she was meant to be my dog! Ha! Bless her heart! So, now Percie can only eat prescription dog food. I mean ONLY prescription dog food.....she can't even have dog treats! We do not usually give her people food (she is usually not interested), but she loves her dog treats! Poor Percie!

She is also taking an antibiotic, steroid, her normal thyroid meds, and benedryl at night. After this week we will be finished with the meds (except the thyroid...that's for life) and hopefully she will be 100%. So, the next dilima is that Percie does not like to take pills......she does however love cheese, so we give her her pills in cheese.......well, not any more! SHE CAN'T HAVE CHEESE! So, we got some of the wet (yuck!) prescription dog food and we dip her pills (YUCK!) in it so she will take them. Yes, I love my dog.

Good news....she LOVES her new food and eats it ALL immediately after we put it in her bowl.

So, anyway.....back to our day. After Joe got his haircut (you should enlarge the pics from the park and then the pics after and see the difference!) and we finished shopping for something for Percie for her birthday other than a treat we stopped by Froyo to get Joe a treat!

Joe got some sugar free vanilla with strawberries and pecans! He loved it!

And then when we got home.....I cooked. If you know me, you know what a miracle that is! HA! I have been cooking more often lately, and I am really enjoying it. This is for Joe, not for me. It is salmon, onions, and mushrooms.

We had a good Saturday together!

Rae

Snow Day and Project

2011-01-11T00:29:00.000-06:00

My snow day was great! I'm so thankful that I had a day to relax at home.....and have some fun playing in the snow!

We had a great day! The campus is so pretty covered in snow!

This snow day gave me time to do another project! I had so much fun making this wreath!

I bought the red wreath and the black mesh at a wholesale store I bought the glitter sprigs at Wal-Mart the day after Christmas just in case I might need them. (I'm so glad I did! I love the way they look!) I got the wooden letters and paint at Wal-Mart, also. I just had the rhinestones from making Turtle Feathers stuff. I bought some of the ribbon at Hobby Lobby and some of the ribbon at Wal-Mart. I bought the glue and glitter at Hobby Lobby, of course! And the only other thing I used was hot glue and craft wire.

This was such a fun project! I am ready to make another one!!

I am so thankful for this snow day!

Rae

200th Blog Post and 1st Snow of 2011

2011-01-09T22:14:00.000-06:00

I can't believe this is my 200th blog post!

(Especially since I am not the best at keeping up with the blog!)

But, YAY! I made it to 200!!

AND, Beebe got it's first snow of 2011 today!

These pictures are from this afternoon right when it started snowing!

These pics are from about 1.5 hours later!

These pics are at about 8:30 tonight

(about 4 hours after it started snowing!)!!

Percie likes playing in the snow. She really likes it when Joe throws snow balls for her to chase. She bites at them and then looks at me like "What happened mom??" She is so funny!!

ASU Beebe classes are canceled for tomorrow, and I've already gotten the call that I don't have to go to work tomorrow!!

Snow Day!!

Yay!!

New Year's Eve 2010

2011-01-02T03:06:00.000-06:00

Joe and I had the best New Year's Eve! Joe's sister let us borrow her kids for a few nights and we had a blast! We went to Wal-Mart, Playtime Pizza, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Mrs. Bonnie's house, and McDonald's! We also watched movies and had a New Year's Party!

Happy New Year!

I am excited about 2011! I expect some awesome things to happen!

Rae

"Re-mem-mem, Re-mem Remember...

2011-01-02T02:42:00.000-06:00

....Delta Zeta Sisters forever. Loving, Laughing, Doing whatever. We have fun when we're together!"

Okay, so this may be a cheesey song that we sang during rush in college, but it is SO true! And is still true! Two of my sorority sisters that live out of state were in town for the holidays so a few of us got together at Cajuns Warf in Little Rock. Oh my.....laughing is an understatement! We had so much fun! I wish these girls lived closer!

I'm so glad the younger crowd joined us too! We had a blast!

Thanks girls! We've still got it!

Rae

Christmas 2010

2011-01-02T02:35:00.000-06:00

Joe and I started off our Christmas celebration in Trumann with his family this year.

We had a great time in Trumann. When then headed back to Beebe on Christmas Eve for the Christmas Eve Service at our church. It was a great service!

On Christmas Day, my sister and her family came to Beebe! We had a great Christmas with them!

We had a great Christmas Day! The day after Christmas we went to church and then headed to Little Rock. The boys watched a movie and the girls did a little shopping. We stopped by the Purple Cow on our way home to enjoy a purple milk shake.

Christmas 2010 was a great Christmas!

Rae

Preparing For Christmas 2010

2011-01-02T01:52:00.000-06:00

Joe and I had a great time at some awesome Christmas parties this year! I had my work party, Joe's work party, my church party, and Maranda and Josh's Tacky Christmas Sweater party! So much fun!! I just had to throw a few pictures of Percie in there, too!

December is a very busy month! It is a busy month for everyone, but Joe and I had this bright idea to get married in December.....which makes this month even busier every year because along with everything else, we have to find time to celebrate our anniversary! Joe and I started dating on December 1, 2001. He proposed on December 15, 2002. We got married on December 20, 2003. Lots of anniversaries in December! We decided to go back to Hot Springs this year. We had a great time!

I'm so glad Percie went with us for our anniversary trip! We had a blast!

Happy belated 7 years of marriage Joe! It has been a great 7 years!!

Rae

Arkansas vs. LSU Game!!

2011-01-02T01:19:00.000-06:00

Even though I am trying to make it short, this game deserves its own post! The Friday after Thanksgiving my BFF Christy and her husband came to Beebe to prepare for the Hogs vs. Tigers football game on Saturday. We had the best time! I'm so glad we have season tickets with them!

Yes, The Hogs WON!! It was an awesome game, and I am so glad we could be there!! So wish we could go to the Sugar Bowl! The Hogs are gonna win!!

Thanks to Grandma Bonnie for keeping the boys, and thanks to Christy and Crunch for these memories!

Rae

Thanksgiving 2010

2011-01-02T01:07:00.000-06:00

The week before Thanksgiving 2010 my father in law had to have emergency eye surgery. He had to have a check up with the surgeon in Memphis the day after Thanksgiving, so my in laws plan of traveling to family in Alabama for Thanksgiving were not going to work out. I was sad for them because I know they were looking forward to going, but I was happy for Joe and I because we got to have Thanksgiving with both of our families! At the same time! Dannie, Charlotte, Roy, Malinda, Rylee, and Jordan came to mama's house and ate with Mama, Lon, Jeannie, Mattilyn, Logan, Braden, Joe, and I! Wow! It was great!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Joe and I have so much to be Thankful for!

Rae

November 2010--Turtle Feathers Update

2011-01-02T00:51:00.000-06:00

In November, mama and I were SUPER busy with Turtle Feathers! I love this! It is SO much fun!

In November mama and I had our first big craft show "A Little Bitta Christmas" in Jonesboro, AR. It was a 3 day show and it was SO much fun! I envy people who get to do this full time! Here are some pictures of our booth:

Like I said.....SO MUCH FUN! Mama and I are working on an outfit for a little girl's first birthday party right now that I am in love with! I can't wait to show you the pics!

Rae

Carie's Baby Shower

2011-01-01T23:58:00.000-06:00

Planning Carie's baby shower was so much fun! I neglected the blog for so long, that Baby Kennedy will be here in 6 days! I can't wait to meet her!

We decided on

"Ribbons, Pearls, and Dresses to Twirl. Carie's Having Another Girl!"

for the shower theme. SO girly and SO much fun!

We had an awesome time! Mrs. Nancye, Carie's mom, provided the place and the party food! Thanks so much Mrs. Nancye! Natalie made the awesome cupcakes!! And Ms. Bella and Ms. Kayt were the stars of the shower!

I can't wait to meet Kennedy!!

Rae

Neglect..... October 2010

2011-01-01T23:34:00.000-06:00

I have neglected the blog for long enough! New years resolution....to actually keep up with this thing! Ha!

I will start with where I left off and try to make it short....that is not easy for me! Ha!

My girls in my pre-k class at church on Wednesday nights painted pumpkins for Halloween! It was so much fun! I love these kids!

We had Harvest Fest at ASU Beebe and Whitney is Queen and Cara is runner up! YAY! I love Harvest Fest!

Joe and I carved our annual pumpkin and had an awesome time at Maranda and Josh's Halloween Party!

We also had the privilege of having my BFF Christy's little boys, our nephews Corbin and Carson, for Halloween weekend! It was a blast! We got to take them Trick-or-Treating and everything! They are SO much fun!

We went to Target, Chick-fil-a, trick-or-treating at ASU Beebe, and McDonalds on Friday; hung out at Grandma Bonnie's and went to Trunk-or-Treat at FUMC Beebe on Saturday (I also had Carie's baby shower-more on that later); and we went to church and took the boys back to Texarkana on Sunday!

Percie was a witch, Molly was a pumpkin, and Holly was a bat for Halloween!

October was a great month!!

Rae

THS and ASU Homecoming 2010

2010-10-13T01:45:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, October 1-3, Joe and I went to Trumann High School and Arkansas State University's Homecoming. I'm so glad they both fell on the same weekend!

THS Homecoming was a blast! Joe's cousin was the sophomore maid and looked SO pretty! Rylee was so excited! She kept saying, "Kelly's the one in the blue dress!"

After the game, Joe and I went to IHOP with Derek and Magan. It was CRAZY by the time we left.......probably because it was also ASU homecoming weekend.

On Saturday morning I had an Alumni event in the Delta Zeta suite, then Joe and I headed to the game. It was great to get to see everyone! When we first got to the game the weather was awesome......then these crazy strong winds came out of no where and it got COLD! I was one of those crazy people standing in line right after the game started spending entirely too much money on a hoodie........it was either buy the hoodie or go sit in the car! Ha!

ASU did not win, but we had fun anyway!!

When we got back to Joe's parent's house, we let the dogs in. We noticed Molly was limping so Joe checked her out. Something had bitten her. I called our vet in Beebe on his cell phone ......at 9:00 p.m. ........on a Saturday night.......and he called me back less than 5 minutes later! That's what you call an awesome vet. He asked me a million questions and had me check her all over. He said he thought she would be fine, but he would meet us at the office if we wanted him to. He said he wanted to see her Sunday morning......yes you read that right.....Sunday morning because he knew she would need antibiotics for the bites. So, Joe and I packed our stuff, stopped by Wal-Mart on our way out of town to get Molly some aspirin, and headed back to Beebe. We went to mama's house and spent the night there. When we got there we gave Molly a bath because the vet wanted us to try to clean her wounds the best we could. Poor Molly! We did take her to the vet Sunday morning and she got a shot and some antibiotics and pain meds. She is now finished with all of her meds and is totally healed and doing great!

Molly, Percie, Sophie, and Joe took a Sunday afternoon nap!

We had a great weekend!!

Rae

Turtle Feathers Lately

2010-10-13T00:46:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to share a few of our most recent creations.

Congrats Jessica......almost Ware!

2010-10-13T00:18:00.001-05:00

On Sunday, September 26, 2010, after mama and I made it home, I headed to Jessica's wedding shower. Jessica and Jacob were Freshman at ASU-Beebe Joe's first year to work here. Now, fast forward 6 years and Jessica is the Hall Director for the girls residence hall......like Joe is for the guys residence hall. Jessica and Jacob are getting MARRIED this Saturday! I am so happy for them!

On to the shower.......

Mrs. Vicki did an awesome job!

Congrats Jess! You are going to be a beautiful bride! I am excited about Saturday......I know you are!

Rae

The Tate Barn Sale 2010

2010-10-13T00:05:00.000-05:00

On Friday, September 24, 2010 Mama and I headed to Magnolia to spend the night. We were very excited to get up early Saturday morning and get ready to set up at the Tate Barn Sale in Camden. This was our second festival since we started Turtle Feathers.......and it rained the whole day! It rained while we set up, it rained all morning, it rained all afternoon, it rained while we packed everything up........you get the point. BUT, we still did pretty good! Mom's of young children are SUPER shoppers! They were out there at 9 when everything started in their ponchos with their umbrellas! Ha! And I am so glad! It was definitely worth the trip. we ate breakfast at Magnolia Bake Shop and The Spudnut Shop........I couldn't decide which one.......so why not both! Ha! Then after leaving the Barn Sale we ate supper at Backyard BBQ! An absolute must when we visit Magnolia!

On Saturday night after we got back to Diane's house.......it stopped raining! Ha! So we had to set everything out, because everything was so damp!

Then we headed to Theresa and Julie's for a visit. It was great to get to see them!

Sunday morning when we got up, mama went to Tasty Donuts to get us breakfast. It was so yummy! Then we packed everything up and headed home.

EVEN though it rained on Saturday, it was a great weekend!

Rae

ASU Football on Joe's B-Day!

2010-10-12T23:49:00.000-05:00

It worked out great that ASU's first home game fell on Joe's 30th birthday! Going to ASU football games is something we both very much enjoy.......maybe for different reasons....Ha......but we both enjoy them. Joe loves football. He always has. I love to socialize. I always have! Ha!

Samantha and John asked us to join them tailgating, and I am so glad they did! It was HOT and HUMID! Not as hot as the Razorback game, but UGH......I'm ready for fall!

ASU did beat Lousiana-Monroe! We had a great time at the game, and I think Joe had a great birthday!

We stopped at Olive Garden after the game for Joe's b-day dinner. It was great! Percie had a lot of fun at her nanny and poppy's house! Can you tell!?! (I gave her a bath as soon as we got home! Ha!)

Happy 30th Birthday Joe!!

Rae